Darnell Coles

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Darnell Coles
Atlanta Braves
Third baseman / Outfielder
Born: (1962-06-02) June 2, 1962 (age 63)
San Bernardino, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 4, 1983, for the Seattle Mariners
NPB: April 5, 1996, for the Chunichi Dragons
Last appearance
MLB: May 22, 1997, for the Colorado Rockies
NPB: September 10, 1997, for the Hanshin Tigers
MLB statistics
Batting average.245
Home runs75
Runs batted in368
NPB statistics
Batting average.284
Home runs36
Runs batted in107
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
As player
As coach
Career highlights and awards
  • World Series champion (1993)

Darnell Coles (born June 2, 1962) is an American professional baseball player and current hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) primarily as a third baseman and outfielder from 1983 to 1997. He has coached in MLB since 2014.

Amateur career

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Coles played baseball as well as football, basketball, and track at Eisenhower High School. He was the baseball team's MVP three times.[1]

Playing career

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On June 3, 1980, Coles was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round (sixth pick) of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft. He turned down a joint baseball and football scholarship to UCLA to sign with the Mariners. He reached the majors in 1983, batting .214 in parts of three seasons before the Mariners traded him to the Detroit Tigers for Rich Monteleone.[2]

In 1986, Coles hit a career-high 20 home runs for the Tigers.[3] He had two three-home run games in his career: in 1987 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and in 1994 with the Toronto Blue Jays.[4]

Coaching career

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In 2006, Coles was hired as the roving hitting instructor for the Washington Nationals organization. He was the manager of the Vermont Lake Monsters in 2007, and manager of the Class A Hagerstown Suns in 2008. In 2009 he was the hitting coach for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs.[5]

On October 10, 2013, Coles was selected to manage the Milwaukee Brewers Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds, after previously managing the organization's Double-A Huntsville Stars from 2012 to 2013.[6] However, on November 25, the Detroit Tigers announced the hiring of Coles as assistant hitting coach.[7]

On October 23, 2014, the Milwaukee Brewers announced Coles replaced Johnny Narron as the hitting coach.[8] He resigned after the 2018 season[9] and became the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks.[10] On June 10, 2021, Coles was relieved of his position with the club.[11]

The Washington Nationals hired Cole to be their hitting coach following the 2021 season.[5][12]

On November 11, 2025, Coles was hired by the Atlanta Braves to serve as an assistant hitting coach.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Allen, Malcolm. "Darnell Coles". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  2. ^ "Top Mariners Draft pick from every season". MLB.com. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  3. ^ "Darnell Coles Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  4. ^ "Top Performances for Darnell Coles". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Washington Nationals name Darnell Coles hitting coach". MLB.com. October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  6. ^ Watson, Phil (October 10, 2013). "Milwaukee Brewers Tab Darnell Coles to Manage at Triple-A Nashville in 2014". Sports Media 101 Inc. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  7. ^ Frisaro, Joe (November 25, 2013). "Tigers name Coles assistant hitting coach". MLB.com.
  8. ^ "Brewers bring back Coles to be hitting coach". MLB.com. October 23, 2014. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  9. ^ McCalvy, Adam (October 26, 2018). "Brewers hitting coach Coles resigns". MLB.com.
  10. ^ "Diamondbacks Name Darnell Coles Hitting Coach". October 31, 2018.
  11. ^ Franco, Anthony (June 10, 2021). "Diamondbacks Part Ways With Hitting Coaches Darnell Coles And Eric Hinske". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  12. ^ Camerato, Jessica (October 18, 2021). "Coles returns to Nats as hitting coach". MLB.com.
  13. ^ https://www.mlb.com/news/braves-finalize-2026-mlb-coaching-staff
[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by Vermont Lake Monsters Manager
2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Hagerstown Suns Manager
2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Syracuse Chiefs Hitting Coach
2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Huntsville Stars Manager
2012 - 2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Detroit Tigers Assistant Hitting Coach
2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Milwaukee Brewers Hitting Coach
2015 – 2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Arizona Diamondbacks hitting coach
2019–2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Washington Nationals hitting coach
2022-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent